South Africa is gearing up to reset its diplomatic and trade ties with the United States, with President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing plans to send a delegation to Washington for critical discussions.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs event on the sidelines of the G20 meetings—where U.S. foreign and finance ministers were notably absent—Ramaphosa made it clear that Pretoria isn’t looking to justify itself but to strike a meaningful deal.
“We don’t want to go and explain ourselves, we want to go and do a meaningful deal with the United States on a whole range of issues,” he stated.
This move follows harsh criticism from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who accused South Africa of “confiscating” land from white farmers, referring to a law signed by Ramaphosa allowing land expropriation in certain cases without compensation.
While the law aims to address historic land ownership inequalities, Trump’s remarks and threats to cut U.S. funding have fueled tensions. Ramaphosa recalled an initially “wonderful” conversation with Trump after he took office, but admitted relations later “seemed to go a little bit off the rails.”
With the U.S. set to take over the G20 presidency next year and currently standing as South Africa’s second-largest trading partner, Pretoria sees dialogue as inevitable.
“We have got to make a deal of one sort or another—on trade, diplomacy, politics, and more,” Ramaphosa affirmed. “It’s only a matter of time.”
